Interpretive Summary: The current method to remove pectins from cotton textiles uses harsh alkaline chemicals which consume large amounts of water and energy, require high temperature, lower fiber strength, and generate large waste streams. Our present research seeks to improve the current bioscouring process method by using a new class of enzymes called polygalacturonases. This enzymatic approach is environmentally friendly and does not require caustic chemicals or generate hazardous waste streams. Together with the application of high frequency ultrasound, these polygalacturonase enzymes were investigated as an alternative to the current method. The results showed that the combination of ultrasound and enzymes did remove a statistically significant amount of pectin compared to control, but did not perform as well as traditional caustic methods. However, these newly discovered polygalacturonase enzymes did perform as well as a commercially available enzyme source. Furthermore, results obtained using UV-Vis spectrophotometry and ANOVA statistics confirmed the synergistic effect of ultrasound when combined with enzymes. Bioscouring performance improved when ultrasound and enzymes were combined compared to experiments in which the two were used separately.

Technical Abstract:
An analytical and statistical method has been developed to measure the ultrasound-enhanced bioscouring performance of milligram quantities of endo- and exo-polygalacturonase enzymes obtained from Rhizopus oryzae fungi. UV-Vis spectrophotometric data and a general linear mixed models procedure indicates that combinations of ultrasound and endo- and exo-poly-galacturonase enzymes are significantly different from control and could be an environmentally friendly alternative to the present-day caustic method for cotton preparation. Additionally, endo-RPG-2 performed as well as a commercially-available enzyme source. Evidence is provided to support the synergistic relationship between ultrasound and enzyme.